Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Amble Resorts Monkeys Around on Facebook

A little more than two weeks ago I wrote about several properties that use costumed characters to help educate guests and their children about environmental issues. The Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., has a mascot called Globie. Rosen Hotels & Resorts has a Nesor the Eco-Hero mascot, and The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte will soon have its own unique version of Mother Nature. (See article.)

After writing that article I heard from the marketing director at Amble Resorts. Amble Resorts is a resort development company specializing in ecologically and culturally sensitive resorts. Their first resort project is The Resort at Isla Palenque. Ground will be broken this year on the project located on an island off the coast of Panama. Turns out the resort also has a mascot but not one that walks around in a costume. The mascot's name is Thurston Howler III. Anyone familiar with the old Gilligan's Island TV show knows the name is a play on the Thurston Howell III character.

Thurston Howler III is a real howler monkey who lives on the resort island. The marketing folks at Amble Resorts created a Facebook page for the monkey. (Click here to check it out.) Believe it or not, the monkey already has 88 friends (almost as many as me--yikes!). Thurston is in an open relationship (is a real swinger I am sure), spends a lot of time howling with 20 of his closest friends, and loves music by The Monkees and The Beatles. No surprise there.

What Amble Resorts has done with Thurston's Facebook page is a great idea--an excellent way to create a little buzz about an upcoming green project. If you could select a mascot for your property, what animal or character would you choose? I would love to know.